1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a snowmobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Snowmobiles for running on snow are conventionally known. A snowmobile includes a pair of left and right skis disposed at the front bottom of the vehicle body, and steering handlebars for steering the skis. The steering handlebars and the skis are coupled via a link mechanism.
In recent years, proposals have been made to provide a power steering device to the link mechanism in order to reduce the force required to steer the skis. U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,988 B2 discloses a snowmobile in which a power steering device is mounted at the lower end of a handlebar column for supporting steering handlebars. JP-A-2005-193788 (see Abstract and FIGS. 1 and 2) discloses a snowmobile including an electric power steering device disposed in an engine compartment.
In the snowmobile disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,988 B2, an electric motor of the power steering device projects forward as seen in a plan view. The axis of the electric motor extends in the fore and aft direction of the vehicle.
In the snowmobile disclosed in JP-A-2005-193788 (see Abstract), an electric motor of the power steering device projects in the left and right direction of the vehicle. That is, the axis of the electric motor extends in the left and right direction.
In the conventional snowmobiles described above, however, the electric motor projects greatly in the fore and aft direction or in the left and right direction, and therefore a large space is required to install the power steering device. In addition, in an attempt to reduce the size of the snowmobile, the power steering device must be disposed close to other vehicle components. Therefore, the power steering device hinders maintenance or the like of the vehicle components. Thus, maintenance or the like of the vehicle components is not easy in the conventional snowmobiles described above.